YEREVAN, Armenia, 10 March: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has
said the wording of remarks by the British ambassador [to Armenia], Thorda
Abbott-Watt, regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turkey, was
slightly different from the one published in the media.

At a meeting with students of Yerevan State University today, Robert
Kocharyan said that he was not planning to defend those who deny the fact of
genocide. This was not the question at issue. However, at a recent press
conference the British ambassador worded her remarks slightly different. He
said that a letter was sent to the British ambassador and that the
ambassador replied. Her reply was published by quite a few prominent media
outlets.

Robert Kocharyan

However, it was not an official statement. The situation should be assessed
in the following manner: Britain does not recognize the 1915 Armenian
genocide, therefore, its naive to think that the ambassador of a country,
which does not recognize the fact of genocide, will come up with a different
statement.

On the other hand, the ambassador could have evaded this question or gave a
vague answer. The ambassadors of the countries, which do not recognize the
Armenian genocide, must treat this issue carefully, the president said,
adding at the same time that he personally does not approve of such remarks.

Britain is not a country whose ambassador can simply be kicked out. Armenia
would then find itself in a diplomatic impasse from which it could be very
difficult to get out, Robert Kocharyan said.

Robert Kocharyan and Leonid Kuchma

[A separate Arminfo report quoted Kocharyan as warning people against
attempts to politicize International Women's Day. He said that he could not
understand those women who acted aggressively by staging a march on their
day. "It means that there is no warmness in their families to keep them at
home on this day, what a pity," the president said]